Sweepstakes Gambling Operator is Top Donor to NC Legislators; Donations with Ties to McCrory’s Law Firm Raise Questions

The man at the center of a national gambling scandal that caused Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll of Florida to resign last week played a surprisingly large – and mysterious – role in financing North Carolina politicians in 2012, according to new research by the election reform group Democracy North Carolina: Read More

Leaders in both major political parties in North Carolina have been guilty through the years of engaging in “pay-to-play” politics. Former Democratic House Speaker Jim Black was, of course, the poster child for this kind of corruption and wound up in prison as a result.

Now, this week, comes word of another disturbing pay-to-play incident in the state House.

As reported by Greensboro’s Yes Weekly and Raleigh’s News & Observera candidate for the state House of Representatives told a group of Winston-Salem businesspeople the other day that she needed to raise more money for the House Republican cause in order to get a better committee assignment should she be elected to the House this fall. Read More

Legislative Leaders Are Setting Record for Fundraising from Special Interests; Speaker’s Solicitation Called “Shakedown”

Despite efforts to reduce the influence of lobbyists and special interests in political fundraising, the top leaders of the NC General Assembly are on pace to break two records, according to a review of disclosure reports by the watchdog group Democracy North Carolina:

(1) they are raising more money from special-interest political action committees (PACs) than any of their predecessors, and

(2) they are relying more heavily on PACs to reach and exceed the large fundraising totals of past legislative leaders – in the range of $1 million and beyond. Read More